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Two roads diverged in a wood…

Your eyes do not deceive you, I am quoting the famous Robert Frost Poem “The Road Not Taken” in this latest blog post. What do poetry and running have to do with each other, you ask? Well….

On my Saturday long run, around mile 5 of my 8 miler, I began to get discouraged. I was frustrated that I had to walk a few short times. Mainly for water breaks, I am not one of those people who can run and drink. Learned this the hard way as I darn near choked to death on my water…twice. I was frustrated that I wasn’t running faster, that my runs weren’t fluid, easy and effortless, as I assume all other runners feel during their runs.

Then a song came on (I was using my new favorite app Rock My Run), one of my favorites from my childhood. The song was “Nothing Going to Break My Stride”. I believe it is widely regarded as one of the worst songs of the 80’s, but I absolutely love it. The beat is fun and the lyrics are motivating. Immediately my mood changed. I ran a tick faster with a smile on my face. It was just after this song that I had a revelation.

Running, especially distance running, is so much a metaphor for life. It will not always be effortless and fun. There will be times when we want to quit, when we think “why am I even doing this?” It is here that we have two choices (or two roads if you will). Here we can find a motivating song, a happy thought or running partner, take a deep breath and keep going or we can choose to quit. We can dig in and say “I am going to DO THIS” and keep going or we just give up and walk home.

I decided was going to take the less traveled and harder path and kept running. Yep, I walked a few more times during that run, but I kept them short and ran way more than I walked. I took the final mile of my run to have my “chat with God” about life. I ended that run feeling tired and depleted but happy. Happy I didn’t give up. Happy I persevered when others might have stopped. Happy that I took that road far less traveled in this world. The road that is much harder to traverse but so much more rewarding in the end.

Enjoy the Run!

Yvonne

Question: Is there a new app (running or non-running related) you love?